Waterloo, Iowa – The Waterloo Bucks have announced Casey Harms will return as the team’s Field Manager in 2020. Harms,
who enters his second season with the ballclub, led Waterloo to the Northwoods League Playoffs in 2019, winning the Great Plains East Subdivision First Half Championship.
“I’m excited to be back this summer as the field manager for the Waterloo Bucks,” said Harms. “I look forward to building on the momentum from last year’s Northwoods Division Championship and playoff run. We will return some fan favorite All-Stars from last year’s Championship team as well as introduce a competitive roster of exciting new players from across the country. I appreciated the hospitality from the fans and working with each member of the organization last season. I know they are working hard to bring another great summer of baseball to the Cedar Valley. I can’t wait to get back to Waterloo for Bucks baseball!”
In 2019 under Harms, the Bucks made their first trip to the postseason since 2013, finishing their first half title run with a 20-16 record. Waterloo ended the season with a 34-35 overall record, a 14-game improvement in the win column from the 2018 season. With Harms in the dugout, the Bucks sent four players to the NWL All-Star Game and had two players representing Waterloo on the Postseason NWL All-Star Team.
Harms is currently the Associate Head Coach at Santa Barbara City College. Before joining the Vaqueros coaching staff, Harms had been a coach with UC Santa Barbara for six years, helping them to three NCAA Regionals, one Super Regional, and the first College World Series appearance in school history. Harms also has summer-collegiate experience, coaching for the Kelowna Falcons of the West Coast League in 2014.
Before entering the coaching profession, Harms was an outfielder and three-year captain at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Harms earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology from Occidental in 2012 and earned a master’s degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2016. He and his wife Samantha currently reside in Santa Barbara, California.
The Bucks, who open the 2020 season on May 26, play their home games at Cost Cutters Field at Riverfront Stadium which welcomed a new state of the art video board in 2016 thanks to a matching grant from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association. Team ownership has invested nearly $400,000 in stadium improvements since the end of the 2014 season including group outing areas, painted bleachers, public Wi-Fi, sound system, kids zone inflatables, wiffle ball field, and concessions equipment. Fans are encouraged to stay in touch with the Bucks by utilizing their website at www.waterloobucks.com or utilizing the Northwoods League Mobile App.
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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bucks as your favorite team.